If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium

Tiredness abounds, even though I haven't done much in the way of actual manual work in the last few days.

I am going to the gym at lunch and will have to give myself a stern talking to in order to get me to the pool this afternoon. It seems I've been overtaken by exhaustion.

The funeral was good, as those things go, Bick said. It was a nice memorial that was true to the man who died, complete with stories and show tunes. Sad, but hopeful is how he described it.

The work crew was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. They worked like a well-oiled machine, a beautifully choreographed ballet, without so much as taking a break. They stopped for about 20 minutes for lunch to eat what I'd provided and then it was right back at it. The crew, consisting of The Kid's Dad, Ray (a guy that the Dad used to frame with) and Pancho, a guy that Ray currently works with. Ray was the saw guy, with Dad and Pancho the installers. The Kid and The Kid's 14 year old brother were also on the payroll. The 14 yo was assigned to Ray, and The Kid worked with his Dad and Pancho.

Boards were flying, measurements were barked and echoed, dueling air compressors and nail guns were hard at work. Bick and I just stood on the porch and watched in slack-jawed amazement as this structure went up. By the time Bick left to go to the funeral at 8am, the storage area was decked and framed in. By the time he got home, the structure was completely framed. He still had some labor money left over, as these guys were so much faster than he'd planned that at the end of the day, he asked them to stay over and finish the siding and the trim work. Turns out there is a shortage of shingles in Texas these days and our particular model that matches the house are in especially short supply - so Bick used the money to have a few more hours of work done on the pavillion. When the shingles come in, then we'll either hire the same crew to come back on some weekend or else he and I will do it ourselves. It's probably a better use of our limited skills than trying to trim out/box in eaves - Bick totally made the right call to get that done by the pros.

We've still got to install the special order storage unit-type roll up door that Bick wanted, but that should be pretty easy to do. There is some more detail trim work, but the bulk of the skilled work is complete. Paint will be next, followed by a several tons of decomposed granite. Then it's on to the rest of the fencing and backyard and garden redesign. That should be fun and take us well into next year, I think.

Take good care of yourself. Be kind to others. Instant gratification is, well, gratifying.

-Roxie